We look forward to the annual Christmas Concert of the Mosaic Choir, back in Covent Garden by kind permission of Corpus Christi Catholic Church. A wonderful way to celebrate Christmas with friends and family of all backgrounds!
Join us in music and fellowship to celebrate Christmas with carols and songs from around the world. Free entry, with charity collection to be split between Corpus Christi Church and Olive Branch Aid
Posters for download:
Metropolitan Kallistos, President and founder of the Orthodox Fellowship of St John the Baptist died peacefully in the early hours of 24 August 2022, having earlier received the Holy Mysteries. His support for the Fellowship, for its associated activities such as the Youth Festival and Mosaic Choir, was generous and unstinting.
A memorial service will be held at the forthcoming summer conference in Walsingham 25-29 August, where Metropolitan Kallistos is pictured below, preaching during our 2015 conference on pilgrimage in the same place.
Memory Eternal! Christ is Risen!
Booking is now open for the OFSJB conference on Angelic Beings. 25-29 August 2022 in Walsingham, Norfolk UK. Please register as soon as you can, places are limited! This is our first in-person conference in 3 years.
As well as talks, services and time to socialise, there will also be time to explore Walsingham and the surrounding area. We will celebrate the Divine Liturgy twice, on Sunday and for the feast of the Beheading of St John the Baptist on Monday.
We are happy to announce our main speaker, Father Stephen De Young from the Parish of the Archangel Gabriel, in Lafayette, Louisiana in the United States. Father Stephen is well-known for his podcasts on Ancient Faith Radio, the Whole Counsel of God, and the Lord of Spirits podcast with Father Andrew Stephen Damick. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from Westminster Theological Seminary, a Master of Arts from the University of Balamand, and a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies from Amridge University.
We will also welcome Tamara Penwell from the Parish of St John of Kronstadt in Bath. Tamara is an experienced iconographer.
Fees: Full adult fee £315; OFSJB member £280; child 5-16 £120; child under 5 free. Attendees are asked to declare if they are willing to share rooms in the accommodation of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham. If you have any concerns about the fees, please email the Chair, Margaret Haig to discuss how the Fellowship can help you attend financially.
The timetable will be confirmed in due course, but we will assemble in the afternoon of Thursday 25 August and depart after the Divine Liturgy on Monday 29 August.
The Youth Festival is back with an in-person event 3-5 June 2022, with the theme Life as Communion. Held at the beautiful Othona Community at Bradwell-on-Sea and worshipping in the chapel built by St Cedd, Apostle of Essex, the festival is a great opportunity for young people 18-35 to get together and share their faith.
Speakers include: His Eminence Archbishop Nikitas of Thyateira and Great Britain; Archpriest Stephen Platt from the Parish of St Nicholas, Oxford; Father Alexander Tefft from the Parish of St Botolph, London; and Marina Robb, Theologian and RE Teacher.
Visit the youth website to find out more and apply for a place.
Great Lent: a time of repentance, of turning away from sin and towards God. You may like to say prayers for peace at home; this link is to our friends at the Orthodox Peace Fellowship. https://incommunion.org/2022/02/14/moleben-for-peace/
Mosaic Choir has received a blessing to chant the Salutations to the Mother of God in English on each Friday of this Great Lent, 19:30 at the Chapel of the Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain, 5 Craven Hill, W2 3EN. We believe this to be the only service of Salutations solely in English in our capital city. All are welcome.
Good strength for Lent!
On Monday 6 December, Mosaic Choir carolled in many different languages and traditions at the Orthodox Cathedral of St Andrew in Kentish Town, London, to celebrate St Nicholas and the Nativity of Christ.
Anna Conomos, accomplished storyteller, shared some of the stories of St Nicholas the Wonderworker, and the choir sang carols in English, Greek, Romanian, Russian, Ukrainian, Georgian, Bulgarian, French and Latin!
The Cathedral switched on the Livestream and we were joined by people all over the UK, and even from Canada and Australia! You can still watch the livestream version at https://youtu.be/GkBV9lTNU_g and we hope to have some close up videos on our YouTube channel soon.
The audience was very appreciative and incredibly generous and we have a total of £750 as the collection. The Monastery of St John the Baptist in Essex has thanked everyone for their generosity and love, but has requested that the sum be donated to another cause. By agreement of all, the collection will be divided between three other wonderful monastic communities:
If you would still like to support the Monastery of St John, please consider making a purchase from the online bookshop: https://essexmonastery.com/bookshop/
Thank you to everyone who supported the choir and we hope to have more concerts and engagements in 2022!
Mosaic Choir will be singing at the Orthodox Cathedral of St Andrew, Kentish Town, London on Monday 6 December at 19:30 for a 19:45 start. Please join the choir for their favourite carols from around the world! Free entry with a charity collection.
Following successful virtual visits last summer and winter, the Fellowship is delighted to announce:
Come and listen to talks about these wonderful saints and witnesses who can teach us so much in living the faith in the modern world. Come and see!
Taking place every Monday, 19 July-23 August, 19:00-20:30 BST (London, UK) on Zoom.
Sign up here whether you want to attend one or all of the series. See you there!
You can download the poster below to further advertise with your parish and community. Right mouse click on the jpeg image and ‘save image as’ or download the pdf file.
Our friends at the International Society for Orthodox Church Music have published the programme for the ninth international conference being held in Joensuu, Finland – Church Music and Topography: City, Village, and Monastery
Academics and practitioners from a wide variety of musical disciplines attend and give papers on their latest research. Even if you are not a specialist, you can learn an enormous amount about musical traditions from the presentations from across the Orthodox world and beyond.
Joensuu is a wonderful place, a town where everything is in walking distance, with two Orthodox Churches, a seminary and a university teaching theology from both the Orthodox and Lutheran traditions, with Valamo/New Valaam and Lintula (pictured) monasteries close by. It is well worth a visit in person, but in these uncertain times, the conference organisers have also made it possible to participate virtually! Online attendance can be booked until 31 May, 40EUR for ISOCM members, 60EUR for non-members.
Why not attend virtually and think about attending in person in two years’ time?
Not only is the Youth Festival now accepting applications on its website, but there is no age restriction because it will be online! And it will be free to attend (with donations welcome).
Join us in fellowship and learning on the topic of Faith, not Superstition: Seeking Orthodox Christian Spirituality
There will be talks by fantastic speakers and time to spend together in prayer and enjoyment. More information to follow!
28-31 May 2021, on Zoom
The Orthodox Fellowship of St John the Baptist 